The demand for removal of the officials came from the group supporting Dr. Abdullah when its candidate failed to get the required votes.

Spokesman for Abdullah's election drive Syed Fazil Hussain Sancharaki had demanded the removal of head of the commission Azizullah Ludin, its administrative head Dawood Ali Najafi and his deputy Zikria Barakzai. However, lawyers termed the demand as illogical.

Teacher at the law and political affairs department in Kabul University Professor Shehla Farid said the demand was made on political basis and there were no logical grounds. However, another teacher at the same department Humaira Haqmal says the demand is just.

She told Pajhwok Afghan News the officials should be removed becuase they failed to keep their integrity as advised by the Election Commission.

Article 9 of the election law states that the officials should keep impartiality in fulfilling their responsibilities.

Professor Shehla, on the other hand, said removal of employees was not the solution to the problem as head of the Election Commission would be again elected by the president under the law.

Head of the lawyers community in Kabul Gul Rahman Qazi told Pajhwok that appointment of head of the commission was the responsibility of the president. Hence, another head would also be appointed by Karzai, hence there is no reason to remove the existing employees.

Nasrullah Stanikzai, head of the law and political affairs department at Kabul University, told Pajhwok that common people, candidates and the president must be dealt in the same way under the law.

Pointing to the election law, Qazi said appointment of the head of the commission was the authority of the president and Abdullah was an ordinary citizen now.

Stanikzai said Abdullah's group should approach the court if they have objections about the head and other officials of the Election Commission.

Pointing to the article 48 of the election law, Stanikzai said work was the right of each and every Afghan. As head and other officials were Afghans, no one could stop them from their work, he added.

Spokesman for Dr. Abdullah's election campaign Sancharaki warned that they would postpone the election if their demands were not accepted. However, their warning is against the law, says Stanikzai.

Under the election, if none of the candidates achieve more than 50 per cent votes during the election, there must be run off between the leading candidate and his successor. According to the fresh tally, Karzai is leading with 49.67 per cent votes followed by Dr. Abdullah 30.59 per cent.

Some lawyers believe that such warnings and demands, as made by Dr. Abdullah's group, will create negative effects on the electorates.

Prof. Shehla says Dr. Abdullah should keep the national interests in mind before issuing such warnings. She said similar criticism had affected the turn out in the August 20 polls. Gul Rahman Qazi also believes that criticism and warnings create negative effects upon the voters.

dk